The 20 most-viewed news stories of 2021 on NEOtrans

Screenshot of the most viewed NEOtrans article of 2021 — Cleveland
Clinic plans to demolish the former Cleveland Play House complex on
Euclid Avenue (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Personal experiences matter. That’s the lesson of why one news article gets opened and another article does not. It’s why the pending demolition of the Cleveland Play House was the most-read story of 2021. It got read because people went to see a show there once upon a time, not because it was the only Cleveland-area project designed by a famous Cleveland-born architect, Philip Johnson.

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Is Downtown Cleveland in Target’s bullseye?

Coming soon to downtown Cleveland? Target reportedly is in talks
with several downtown Cleveland property owners about locating
a small, urban-format store in their buildings. The store would be
similar to this 22,000-square-foot store opening this Spring in the
former Kaufmann’s department store in downtown Pittsburgh
(Target). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM  

The upscale discount retail giant Target is in expansion mode. It is focusing on locations in downtowns, near colleges and dense suburbs for small, urban-format stores. But will downtown Cleveland or perhaps University Circle be under consideration?

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Brooklyn Masonic Hall repurposing as Lofts On Pearl

Located in the commercial district of historic Brooklyn Center, the vacant
Brooklyn Masonic Temple was acquired by a Lakewood entrepreneur
who intends to redevelop the structure with market-rate apartments
over two retail spaces facing Pearl Road (Brandt).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A Lakewood real estate entrepreneur and construction contractor has acquired the vacant Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 3804 Pearl Rd., in Cleveland and plans to renovate it into a mixed-use building called the Lofts On Pearl. It remains to be seen if the project will live up to the Masonic purpose of making good men better.

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Baker Building to be The Fidelity Hotel, speakeasy

Tall but small can be contradictory, but not in the case of the Baker
Building. The skinny building measuring just over 50,000 square
feet will be reborn as The Fidelity Hotel with 71 rooms and suites
restored to the building’s original Gilded Age flair. Permits were
issued last week for the start of the building’s rebirth with more
details to come soon. This view of the building was captured in
July 2021 (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The 11-story Baker Building, 1900-1940 East 6th St. in downtown Cleveland, has received a construction permit so crews can begin work to prepare for the next stage in the 102-year-old building’s life — a mix of boutique hotel rooms and suites plus ground-floor retail/restaurants. To be called The Fidelity Hotel, the name refers back to the structure’s original name and owner — the Fidelity Mortgage Building. A design-review case at the City Planning Commission for the project was opened today.

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Kan Zaman expands, Ohio City parking crater endures

Kan Zaman Middle Eastern restaurant has been a fixture on West 25th
Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood for 14 years. The nearly
5-acre parking lot behind and to the right of it has been around even lon-
ger. But there are rays of hope that the lot could be developed in the com-
ing years if funding can be found for a parking garage containing up to
900 spaces (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When people in Cleveland’s real estate sector heard Kan Zaman will open a new location on the east side of downtown, their immediate reaction was — are they vacating the old site in Ohio City for a new development?

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Cleveland’s new police HQ, mounted unit, fire station all start

Cleveland city officials hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new
Division of Police Headquarters Dec. 16 at East 75th Street and the
Opportunity Corridor on the city’s East Side. It was one of three new
public safety facilities for which groundbreaking ceremonies were held
last week (City of Cleveland). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

City officials broke ground for three major developments for the Department of Public Safety last week, in the waning days of Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration. They were a new police department headquarters, a relocated Mounted Police facility and a new Fire Station No. 26, replacing Cleveland’s longest-operating fire station. All three new developments are located on the city’s East Side.

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Opportunity Corridor cold storage to boost local biz

The northwest corner of the planned Cleveland Cold Storage ware-
house, nearest to the corner of Opportunity Corridor Boulevard and
East 75th Street, will include a 4,000-square-foot office building that
will be “bumped out” from the warehouse to be closer to the street
and the all-purpose trail along the Opportunity Corridor to give the
building a better street presence and pedestrian access for workers
coming from nearby public public transportation (GMA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Opinions varied on the physical appearance of a large new warehouse, as approved Friday by Cleveland’s City Planning Commission. But the project was lauded as the kind of catalytic development that’s needed for Cleveland’s food manufacturing sector, one that belongs on the newly opened Opportunity Corridor Boulevard. Construction of the distribution center is due to start this winter.

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